Refrigerator car door



' 22, 1939. w HE|TNER 2,170,053

REFRIGERATOR CAR DOOR Aug. 22, 1939. I w. A. HEITNER 2,170,053

REFRIGERATOR CAR DOOR Filed April 50, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Aug. 22, 1939. A, HEITNER 2,170,053

REFRIGERATOR CAR DOOR Filed April 30, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Aug. 22, 1939 UNITED STATES .PTENT Fries REFRIGERATOR CAR DOOR Delaware Application April 30, 1937, Serial No. 139,911

14 Claims.

' sliding door member for closing the door opening of the car, means for supporting the door for movement toward and away from the side of the car, and means. for forcing the door either tightly closed or prying the same partly open, wherein simple and efiicient, manually actuated means is employed for actuating said last named means and the door supporting means, so designed that the movement of the supporting means is maintained under control at all times and is entirely relieved from strain during the final closing and initial opening operations while the door is being forced tightly closed and pried open.

A further object of the invention is to provide in a door construction of the character hereinbefore described, eflicient, manually actuated mechanism for successively moving the door into the door opening and forcing the same to tightly closed position or successively prying the door partly open and moving the same outwardly to a position clear of the car wall, comprising crank arms for supporting and moving the door into and out of the door opening, keeper means, and cooperating keeper engaging means for effecting final closing and initial opening movements of the door, wherein the keeper means is fixedly mounted on the car wall and the cooperating keeper engaging means is manually actuated and is geared to the crank arms to effect swinging movement of said arms through actuation of said keeper engaging means while the latter is disengaged from the keeper means, and keep the movement of said arms under control during the final closing and initial opening movements of the door through-the operation of said keeper engaging means while engaged with the keeper means.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a mechanism as specified in the preceding paragraph, wherein the keeper engaging means is in the form of a rotary operating member having crank means engaging the keeper means and the geared connection between the keeper engaging means and the supporting crank arms is in the form of cooperating rotary motion transmitting members on said rotary operating member and crank arms having intermeshing gear teeth thereon, which are interrupted to permit differential movement of said rotary operating member and crank arms while the keeper engaging crank members are engaged through the keeper means and also having interengaging, cooperating guide means thereon for controlling the relative positions of said rotary members when said gear teeth are disengaged during said differential movement to assure proper meshing and functioning of said gear members to swing the supporting crank arms to move the door when the keeper engaging crank members are disengaged from the keeper means.

Other objects of the invention will more clear ly appear from the description and claims hereinafter following.

In the drawings forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 is an elevational View, partly broken away, of the side wall of a refrigerator car, illustrating my improvements in connection therewith. Figure 2 is a horizontal sectional View on an enlarged scale, corresponding substantially to the line 22 of Figure 1. Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2, but showing the door in partly open position. Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3, showing the door in open position to clear the side wall of the car. Figure 5 is a View similar to Figure 3 showing the positions of the parts when the door is partly closed.

In said drawings, It indicates the side wall of the car, which side wall is provided with the usual door opening ll, closed by a single door E2. The door [2 is slidable lengthwise of the car and is displaceab-le laterally in reverse directions to either move the door into or withdraw it from the door opening II. As is the usual practice in refrigerator car door constructions, the cooperating engaging edge faces of the door and walls of the door opening are beveled and provided with insulation material, indicated at I3, to seal the joint between the door and walls of the door opening.

My improvements comprise broadly top and bottom tracks AA; carriers B-B cooperating with the bottom track A; pairs of top and bottom supporting brackets 0-0 and CC; a pair of vertically disposed combined operating and keeper engaging crank shafts DD; pairs of top and bottom keepers EE. and EE; pairs of top and bottom supporting crank shafts FF and FF; gear elements GG and GG on said shafts D-D respectively; and cooperating gear elements HH and HH on said top and bottom crank shafts F-F and F--F.

The top and bottom tracks AA, which are disposed respectively above and below the upper and lower margins of the door opening I I, are of such a length that the door l2 may he slid entirely clear of the door opening. The bottom track A is in the form of an elongated rail suitably secured to the side wall of the car below the door opening H. The top track is in the form of an inverted channel guide suitably secured to the side wall of the car.

The combined operating and keeper engaging shafts D-D are aranged vertically and disposed at opposite sides of the door, each shaft D being rotatably supported by the corresponding top and bottom brackets CC which brackets are secured to the door adjacent to the top and bottom edges thereof. Each shaft D is provided with an operating handle lever M which is pivoted to the shaft for swinging movement in a vertical direction, so that it may occupy either the horizontal position shown in Figure l or may be dropped to a vertical position parallel to said shaft. At the top and bottom ends, each shaft D is provided with end members i5i5 which are fixed to said shaft and have crank arms l6-l6 at the outer ends thereof extending radially therefrom and provided with keeper engaging pin or lug portions i'll'l at their outer ends. The keeper engaging lugs !'l!l' are generally of cylindrical form and each has a flattened face portion i8, as most clearly shown in Figure 2, adapted to engage the wall at the outer side of the slot of the corresponding keeper, as hereinafter pointed out.

The supporting brackets CC and CC are of similar design, the top brackets being arranged reversely to the bottom brackets. These brackets are preferably in the form of castings secured to the outer side of the door, each casting having a pair of vertically disposed, partly cylindrical, bearing sleeve portions IS and 28 formed integral therewith. The bearing sleeves l9 and 28 of each bracket are laterally spaced as clearly shown in the drawings and extend outwardly from the main body portion of the casting to the corresponding edge of the door. The sleeve portions 19 and 2B are enlarged in diameter at their inner ends, said enlarged portions communicating with each other and forming a gear casing section 2|.

As shown most clearly in Figure 1, the sleeve portion I9 is open at opposite ends and the sleeve portion 29 is closed at the inner end and open at the outer end.

The top and bottom end members l5--i5 of each shaft D are provided with cylindrical bearing sections inwardly of the crank end portions thereof, which bearing sections are journaled in the sleeve sections l9-l9 of corresponding top and bottom brackets CC. The parts areso proportioned that the top and bottom keeper engaging crank members of each shaft D project a sufilcient distance beyond the top and bottom edges of the door to properly cooperate with the corresponding pair of keepers E-E.

The gear elements GG and G-G are arranged in pairs on the shafts D-D respectively, each gear element being preferably formed in.- tegral with the corresponding end member 15. Each shaft is thus provided with two such gear members, one at the top and the other at the bottom end thereof. The gear elements G-G and GG are housed in the enlarged portions of the sleeve sections l9i9 and |9-l9 of the brackets C-C and CC. Each gear element G is provided with a set of interrupted teeth 22 and an outwardly curved guide portion 23 for a purpose hereinafter described. As shown in the drawings, there are three teeth in each set 22 although a greater or lesser number may be employed. Two of these teeth, as indicated by 2424, are of the usual type employed in spur gears. The third tooth, which is indicated by 25, is slightly bent away from the adjacent tooth 2 at its outer end, as clearly shown in Figures 2, 3, 4, and 5, thus forming, in effect, a hookshaped tooth member. The curved guide portion 23 of the gear element G is of smaller radius near the tooth 25 than at a distance remo e from said tooth and terminates in a relatively, sharply curved portion adjacent said tooth, as indicated at 26, thereby forming a relatively deep recess 21. The curved portion 26 forms a cam member which cooperates with one of the teeth of the cooperating gear element H. The opposite end of the curved guide portion 23 terminates short of the end tooth 22, thus providing a recess 28 adjacent said tooth.

The supporting crank shafts F-F and F-F are arranged in pairs at opposite sides of the door, one member of each pair at the top and the other at the bottom of said door. Each crank shaft F comprises a vertically disposed, cylindrical shaftlike portion journaled in the sleeve section 20 of the corresponding bracket C, a radially disposed arm 29 at the outer end of said shaft portion, and a vertically disposed, cylindrical bearing projection or pin 30 at the outer end of said arm 29. The crank shafts FF and FF serve to support and guide the door 52 in its movement into and out of the door opening 6 I and are slidingly guided by the top and bottom tracks A -A.

The carriers B-B are slidingly mounted on the bottom track A and support the bottom crank members F-F. As is common practice, the carriers are provided with anti-friction rollers which ride on the track A. Substantially midway between the ends thereof, each carrier B is provided with a vertically disposed, cylindrical bearing socket 3! in which the bearing or pivot pin 30 of the corresponding bottom supporting crank shaft F is journaled. The bearing pin portions of the top crank shafts F-F extend into channel of the top track A and carry anti-friction rollers 32-32, which are journaled thereon for rotation about vertical axes and substantially fit between the side walls of said track to properly support and guide the top crank arms for sliding movement lengthwise of the car. As will be evident, the door I2 is thus supported for sliding movement lengthwise of the car and for lateral movement into and out of the door opening by said top and bottom crank shafts F-F and FF, the arms of which have pivotal swinging connection with the supporting and guiding carriers on said tracks, the rollers 32-32 forming carriers which cooperate with the top track A.

The gear elements IIH and H-H are fixed to the shaft portions of the top and bottom supporting crank shafts FF and Each gear element H is preferably formed integral with the shaft portion of the corresponding member F is arranged at the inner end thereof within the enlarged portion 2% of the sleeve section 2B of the corresponding bearing bracket C. Each gear element H is provided with a set of interrupted teeth adapted to mesh with the interrupted teeth 22 of the gear element G at the corresponding end of the adjacent shaft D. The interrupted set of teeth of the gear element H preferably comprises three teeth 33-3333 of the usual type employed in spur gears and a partial tooth 34. Adjacent the partial tooth 34, the gear element H is provided with an inwardly curved seat 35 which merges with the partial tooth 34 and is arranged to cooperate with the outwardly curved guide portion 23 and the cam member 26 of the cooperating gear element G. As shown most clearly in Figures 2, 3, and 5, the contour of the curve of the wall of the seat is such that this curved wall constantly registers with the cooperating guide portion 23 and the cam member 26 during relative movement of the gear elements G and H from the position shown in Figure 2 to that shown in Figure 3 or from the position shown in Figure5 to that shown in Figure 2. These contours of the surfaces 35, 23, and 26 provide for the required differential movement between each keeper engaging shaft D and the cooperating pair of supporting crank shafts F-F as the door is being moved inwardly or outwardly of the door opening while the keeper engaging crank ends of the shaft D are in operative engagement with the corresponding top and bottom keepers EE and are being engaged with or disengaged from said keepers.

The keepers EE and EE are preferably in the form of castings secured to the side walls of the car in pairs at opposite ends of the door opening, the members of each pair being in vertical alignment and disposed respectively above and below the door opening I I Efach keeper E isprovided with an outwardly opening, inclined guideway, which forms, in effect, a cam groove or way 38, adapted to accommodate the keeper engaging lug portion ll of the crank arm N5 of the correspondingcrank member of one of the shafts D. These keepers EE and E--Ef are so positioned that when the door i2 is moved in front of the door opening H, and the crank arms F-F and F-F are rotated to swing the door inwardly, the keeper engaging portions Il-il and H|'| of the shafts D'D- will be aligned with and enter into the slots or cam ways of the keepers, as most clearly shown in Figure 5.

Latch means 3? of any well-known type is employed to lock the operating handle levers 14-44 of the shafts DD in position with the door closed, as illustrated in Figure 1. Additional latch means 3838 of any well-known design are also provided for locking the operating levers i l-4 1 in position when the same have been swung through a straight angle from the position shown in Figure 1, in rotating the shafts D-D to open the door. When thus locked by the latch means 38-38, the lever arms l ll4 of the shafts D D hold the latter and the intergeared crank shafts F-F and FF against rotationtomaintain the door in parallel relation to the side wall of the car and prevent lateral displacement thereof while the door is being slid along the tracks A-A.

In the closed position of the door, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, the keeper engaging pins ill! of each shaft D are in abutment with the outer walls of the guide slots or grooves 3635 of the corresponding to and bottom keepers EE This abutting relation of the pin ll of one of the lower keeper engaging members with the outer wall of the cooperating keeper is clearly shown in Figure 2. The door is thus held tightly wedged into the door opening. As also clearly shown in Figure 2, 1e curved guide portion 23 of the gear element G is in cooperative engagement with he seat 35 of the adjacent gear element 1-1 when the door is tightly closed.

The operation of my improved mechanism is as follows: With the door closed, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, after unlocking the handle levers li t-i, each lever is swung outwardly away from the door, thereby rotatintg the corresponding 1 shaft D. These handle levers may be actuated either simultaneously or successively, as desired. As will be evident, the shafts DD- will thus be rotated in opposite directions. Except for the fact that the shafts D-D are rotated in opposite directions, the operation thereof is the same in each instance, Rotation of either shaft D effects movement ofthe keeper engaging ends of the crank arms l6l6 of said shaft in the slots of the keepers E-E bringing the pins or lugs l'i ll thereof into engagement with the rear walls of the slots of the keepers to cam the door outwardly While the pins at the ends of the crank arms l6ifi move idly in the slots before engagement with the back walls thereof, the guide face 23 of the gear element G of each set of gears will move a corresponding distance along the seat 35 of the cooperating gear element. However, as clearly shown in the drawings, the guide face 23 is of sufiicient length to insure continued registration thereof with the seat 35 while the door is being cammed open, thereby controlling the amount of movement of the supporting crank shaft during this time. (Jamming action of the crank shaft D brings the parts approximately to the position shown in Figure 3. As will be evident, during outward movement of the door II! from the position shown in Figure 2 to that shown in Figure 3, the same is gu ded and supported by the crank shafts FF and the arms 29-29 said shafts will swing outwardly to the position shown in Figure 3, thereby effecting a corresponding rotation of the shaft portions of said crank members and the attached gear elements H-I-I. Upon reference to Figures 2 and 3, it will be seen thatthe angular rotation of the shafts and the attached gear elements H-I-I of the crank shafts FF is comparatively slight while the keeper engaging shafts D-D are rotated to force the door out of the door opening. This differential action is obtained by camming action of the curved face 23 and cam member 26 of the gear element G on the curved face of the seat '35 of the gear element H of the gears of each cooperating set. As the parts of the mechanism approach the position shown in Figure 3, the tooth 35 of the gear element H swings into the recess 21 adjacent to the hooked tooth 25 and the latter engages over the end of the tooth 34, thereby positively bringing the interrupted sets of teeth of the two gear elements into mesh before the keeper engaging lugs l'l-i'i and il-ll of the shafts D D leave the slots of the keepers and E-El. The amount of angular swinging movement of the arms 2929 and 29-29 of the crank shafts F-F and FF is thus under constant control while the teeth of the gear elements G and H of each set are out of mesh and until the teeth are meshed to positively actuate the shafts F-F in unison with the shaft D, thereby moving the door outwardly from the position shown in Figure '3 to that shown in Figure 4, so that the door completely clears the side wall of the car. When the parts reach the last named position, the shaft D will have been rotated through an arc of approximately 180 and the operating lever l4 thereof will be disposed at the side of the shaft opposite to that occupied in Figure 1. The attendant then locks the lever l4 to the door by means of the latch 38, thereby holding the shaft D against rotation and through the geared connection with the crank shafts F-F also looking the latter in fixed position. As will be evident, when both shafts D--D have thus been operated and locked in position the door will be held spaced from the side wall of the car a distance sufiicient to clear said wall. The attendant then slides the door along the tracks to completely clear the door opening.

In closing the door, the same is slid to the position in front of the door opening H and the actuating levers l4-l4 are unlocked to permit rotation of the shafts DD. The attendant then rotates the shafts DD in reverse directions to the directions hereinbefore described, thereby rotating the cooperating sets of intermeshed gear elements G and H from the position shown in Figure 4 to approximately that shown in Figure 5, thus rotating the crank members FF and F-F to swing the door into the door opening to partly closed position. As the shafts DD and the crank members FF and F-F are thus rotated, the keeper engaging ends of the shafts D-D are brought substantially into alignment with the cam ways of the keepers EE to enter said cam ways, as indicated in Figure 5. This movement is positively controlled by the intermeshing teeth. As the tooth 25 of the gear element G of each cooperating set of gear members moves out of engagement with the last tooth 33 of the gear element H, the sharply curved cam section 26 of the guide portion 23 of the gear element G comes into engagement with the rear face of the partial tooth 34 of the gear element H to further actuate the latter. Inasmuch as the rear face of the tooth 34 is continuous with and forms a part of the cam face of the seat 35, further actuation of the gear element H is effected and controlled by the cam face 26 and the curved surface 23 acting on the concave cam face of the seat 35. Continued relative movement of these gear elements is thus positively controlled with the result that the arms 29-29 of the supporting crank shafts FF also remain under control to prevent accidental displacement of the door to an extent which would prevent proper registration of the crank ends of the keeper engaging shaft D with the slots of the corresponding keepers E-E. During rotation of the shaft D in door closing direction from the position shown in Figure 5 to that shown in Figure 2, the keeper engaging crank ends of said shaft will travel along the cam ways of the keepers EE until the crank ends engage the outer side walls of the guideways of said keepers, whereupon the door will be positively forced into the door opening by camming action of said keeper engaging members. While the keeper engaging crank ends of the shaft D are inactively traveling along said cam ways prior to camming engagement of the keeper engaging crank arms with said keepers,

continued inward movement of the door at the proper rate is effected by camming engagement of the cam portion 26 and the guide face 23 of the gear element G of each set of gears with the back of the tooth 34 and the cam face of the seat 35 of the cooperating gear element H, as hereinbefore pointed out, motion being imparted from the last named gear element to the shaft portion of the corersponding door supporting crank member F to swing the latter on its pivotal support. Camming action of the keeper engaging members at the same time serves to force the door tightly closed. During the closing action, through operation of the keeper engaging crank members, the arms 29-49 of the supporting crank shafts FF will have some inward swinging movement due to the inward movement of the door, thereby effecting corresponding rotary movement of these shafts and the attached gear elements HH. This rotation of the gear element H of each set is under control of the cam portions of the cooperating gear element G as the latter is rotated with the shaft D. As will be evident upon reference to Figures 5 and 2, the angular rotation of the shafts and the attached gear elements H-H of the crank shafts FF is comparatively slight while the keeper engaging shafts DD are rotated to force the door into the door opening. This differential action is obtained by operation of the cam member formed by the element 26 and the curved guide surface 23 of the gear G and the coacting cam member formed by the curved seat 35 of the gear element H of each set.

After the door has been tightly closed, the operating handle levers l4-!4 of the shafts DD are locked in position by the latch member 3'! as shown in Figure 1.

I have herein shown and described what I now consider the preferred manner of carrying out my invention, but the same is merely illustrative and I contemplate all changes and modifications that come within the scope of the claims appended hereto.

I claim:

1. In a door construction for refrigerator cars having a wall member provided with a door opening, the combination with a door adapted to close said opening; of supporting crank arms rotatably mounted at their inner ends on said door and pivotally supported at their outer ends for swinging movement; means for guiding said pivotally supported ends for sliding movement lengthwise of the car; fixed keepers on said car; a rotary keeper engaging crank shaft mounted on said door and having camming engagement with said keepers for moving the door into and out of the door opening; means for rotating said shaft; means actuated by rotation of said shaft while the latter is in operative camming engagement with said keepers for rotating said crank arms to follow the movements of said door; and additional driving connections between said crank shaft and supporting crank arms for transmitting rotary movement from said crank shaft to said arms when said shaft is disengaged from said keepers.

2. In a door construction for refrigerator cars having a wall member provided with a door opening, the combination with a door adapted to close said opening; of supporting crank arms rotatably mounted at their inner ends on said door and pivotally supported at their outer ends for swinging movement, said arms while rotating guiding the door into and out of the door opening; means guiding said pivotally supported ends for sliding movement lengthwise of the car; fixed. keepers on said car; a rotary actuating shaft on said door having intermittent drive connection with said supporting crank arms for moving said door either inwardly to partly closed position or outwardly from said partly closed position; keeper engaging means on said shaft operatively engageable with said keepers to either force the door tightly closed from said partly closed position or pry said door partly opehj. and cooperating controlling means on said actuating shaft and supporting crank arms operative during intermission of the operation of said drive connection for timing rotation of said arms while said door is being moved by operation of said keeper engaging means from said partly closed to closed position and from said closed to said partly closed position.

3. In a door construction for refrigerator cars having a wall member provided with a door opening, the combination with a door adapted to close said opening; of a rotary actuating shaft on said door; fixed keeper means on said car; keeper engaging crank means on said shaft engageable with keeper means for either forcing the door tightly closed or prying the same partly open; swinging crank arms for supporting said door for movement inwardly and outwardly of the door opening; said crank arms being rotatably mounted at their inner ends on said door and swinglngly supported at their outer ends; means for guiding said swingingly supported ends for movement lengthwise of the car; cooperating gear members on said actuating shaft and crank arms, said gear members having interengaging interrupted teeth adapted to intermittently transmit rotary motion from the actuating shaft to said crank arms; and cooperating cam means on said gear members for rotating said crank arms at reduced speed during intermission of the operation of said interrupted teeth of said gears.

4. In a door construction for refrigerator cars having a wall member provided with a door opening, the combination with a door adapted to close said opening; of slotted keepers fixed t the car; supporting crank members rotatably mounted on the door, said crank members being pivo-tally mounted at their outer ends for swinging movement; a rotary actuating shaft on said door having keeper engaging crank arms thereon having means at their outer ends engageable within the slots of said keepers to either force the door tightly closed from partly open position or pry the same partly open; and gear means operatively connecting said actuating shaft to each of said crank members, each gear means including intermeshing, disengageable gear teeth on said shaft and corresponding crank member respectively, and means for timing rotation of said supporting crank members with respect to the keeper engaging crank arms when said teeth are disengaged.

5. In a door construction for refrigerator cars having a wall member provided with a door opening, the combination with a door adapted to close said opening; of slotted keepers fixed to the car; supporting crank members rotatably mounted on the door, said crank members being pivotally mounted at their outer ends for swinging movement; a rotary actuating shaft on said door having keeper engaging crank arms'thereon having means at their outer ends engageable within the slots of said keepers to either force the door tightly closed or pry the same open; and gear means operatively connecting said actuating shaft to each of said crank members including cooperating sets of gear elements, said gear elements having interrupted sets of intermeshing spur gear teeth and interacting cam means for controlling relative rotation of said gear elements, said cam means being operative when said sets of teeth are unmeshed.

6. In a door construction for refrigerator cars having a wall member provided with a door opening, the combination with a door adapted to close said opening; of slotted keepers fixed to the car; a rotary operating shaft on said door having keeper engaging means thereon; and means for guiding said door into and out of the door opening including a supporting crank arm journaled at its inner end on the door and swingingly supported at its outer end, cooperating gear elements connecting said shaft and arm, said elements having interengageable sets of interrupted teeth, and interacting motion controlling means thereon, said motion controlling means comprising a curved guide face on one of said elements and a cooperating curved seat on the other element.

'7. In a door construction for refrigerator cars having a wall member provided with a door opening, the combination with a door adapted to close said opening; of slotted keepers fixed to the car; a rotary shaft on said door having keeper engaging crank means thereon; a gear element fixed to said shaft; a second rotary shaft on the door, said last named shaft having a radial supporting arm pivoted at its outer end; and a gear element fixed to said second rotary shaft, one of said gear elements having an inwardly curved cam face forming a seat and the other gear having an outwardly curved cam face engageable in said seat, said gear elements having intermeshing teeth adjacent said cam faces.

8. In a door construction for refrigerator cars having a wall member provided with a door opening, the combination with a door adapted to close said opening; of slotted keepers fixed to the car; a rotary shaft on said door having keeper engaging means thereon; a supporting crank member rotatably mounted on said door; and gear elements rotatable respectively with said shaft and crank member, said gear elements having interengaging sets of teeth, one of said elements having a seat and the other element having a curved guide portion engageable with said seat, said seat and guide portion being adjacent said sets of teeth and being brought into operative engagement to control relative rotation of said gear elements when said sets of teeth are brought out of mesh.

9. In a door construction for refrigerator cars having a wall member provided with a door opening, the combination with a door adapted to close said opening; of slotted keepers fixed to the car; a rotary shaft on said door having keeper engaging means thereon; a supporting crank member rotatably mounted on said door; and interacting gear elements rotatable with said shaft and crank member respectively, one of said gear elements having a curved controlling face, a short cam face merging with said controlling face and a set of teeth adjacent said cam face, and the other of said elements having a curved seat, and a set of teeth adjacent said seat, said sets of teeth being interengageable to effect relative rotation of said elements, and said cam face and seat cooperating to effect interengagement of said sets of teeth.

10. In a door construction for refrigerator cars having a wall member provided with a door opening, the combination with a door adapted to close said opening; of a rotary actuating shaft on said door; fixed keeper means on the car; means on said shaft engageable with said keeper means for either forcing the door tightly closed or prying the same partly open; supporting crank means for said door; a rotary gear element for actuating said crank means; and a cooperating gear element fixed to said shaft, said gear elements having interengaging cam means thereon for controlling relative rotation of said elements during part rotation thereof, one of said gear elements having a hooked tooth adjacent the cam means thereof and a series of teeth adjacent said hooked tooth, and the other gear element having a partial tooth adjacent the cam means thereof 00- operating with said hooked tooth, said last named gear element having a series of teeth adjacent said partial tooth engageable with the series of teeth of the cooperating gear element.

11. In a door construction for refrigerator cars having a wall member provided with a door opening, the combination with a door adapted to close said opening; of guide track means on said wall member; carrier means slidably guided on said track means; fixed keeper means on the car; a supporting arm journaled at one end on the door and at the other end on said carrier means; an operating shaft having keeper engaging means rotatable therewith and engageable with said keeper means for moving the door into and out of the door opening during partial rotation of said shaft; and intermeshing gear means on said shaft and supporting arm, said gear means including means for timing rotation of said supporting arm for relatively slow movement during said partial rotation of said shaft, and means for effecting accelerated rotation of said supporting arm during another part rotation of said shaft.

12. In a door construction for refrigerator cars having a wall member provided with a door opening, the combination with a door adapted to close said opening; of fixed keeper means on the car; supporting crank arms journaled at their inner ends on the door; means slidable lengthwise of the car on which the outer ends of said crank arms are swingable; a rotary operating shaft; keeper engaging crank means fixed to said shaft and rotatable therewith, said keeper engaging means being engageable with said keepers to move the door laterally to a limited extent; and movement transmitting connections between said shaft and supporting crank arms for positively rotating the latter during movement of the door to said limited extent.

13. In a door construction for refrigerator cars having a wall member provided with a door opening, the combination with a door for closing said opening; of a manually actuated rotary operating shaft on the door; slotted keepers on the car; keeper engaging crank members on said shaft; door supporting crank arms journaled at their inner ends on the door for rotation about axes parallel to the axis of rotation of said shaft, said crank arms being swingingly supported at their outer ends; and power transmitting means for continuously actuating said crank members during rotation of said shaft including interengaging driving and driven members on said shaft and crank arms for rotating the latter, thereby swinging the same on their outer ends to actuate the door and the shaft carried thereby to move the keeper engaging crank members of the latter to and from, and into and out of engagement with the slotted keepers, and interengaging rotary motion transmitting means on said shaft and crank arms for rotating said crank arms during operative rotary engagement of the keeper engaging crank members with said slotted keepers.

14. In a door construction for refrigerator cars having a wall member provided with a door opening, the combination with a door for closing said opening; of a manually actuated rotary operating shaft on the door; slotted keepers on the car; keeper engaging crank members on said shaft;

door supporting crank arms journaled at their inner ends on the door for rotation about axes parallel to the axis of rotation of said shaft, said crank arms being swingingly supported at their outer ends; and power transmitting means for continuously actuating said crank members during rotation of said shaft including intermeshing gears on said shaft and crank arms for rotating the latter, thereby swinging the same on their outer ends to actuate the door and displace the shaft carried thereby to move the keeper engaging crank members of the latter to and from and into and out of engagement with the slotted keepers, and interengaging rotary cams on said shaft and crank arms for rotating said crank arms during operative rotary engagement of the keeper engaging crank members with said slotted keepers.

WILLIAM A. HEITNER. 

